


Far From Home, But Not Alone

by VampirePaladin



Category: Final Fantasy VIII
Genre: F/F, Moon, Outer Space, Post-Canon, Stranded
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-20
Updated: 2014-04-20
Packaged: 2018-01-20 03:56:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1495702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VampirePaladin/pseuds/VampirePaladin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Years after the battle against Ultimecia, scientists are studying the monsters on the moon.  After the loss of the head of security on the Lunar Base, Quistis is sent up to take their place.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Far From Home, But Not Alone

**Author's Note:**

  * For [boywonder](https://archiveofourown.org/users/boywonder/gifts).



Quistis gripped the armrests of her chair with her gloved fingers. She closed her eyes and concentrated on her breathing. The space shuttle began to shake as it took off. She focused all of her attention on herself, not thinking about who might be piloting and all the things that could go wrong at the most dangerous stage of this trip. The shaking grew more severe until Quistis thought her own bones were shaking against each other. When the shuttle broke out of the atmosphere and into space the shaking stopped abruptly.

She opened her eyes. Strands of her blonde hair floated in front of her face. They dropped back to their normal place as the ship’s artificial gravity kicked in. All of her blood was pulled down to her toes. She took a moment to adjust before she removed the harness that had kept her safely strapped into her seat. Her body felt too heavy when she rose from her chair. Perhaps the gravity needed to be adjusted?

It felt like she was dragging her feet across the floor as she moved to the tiny window with thick glass. All she could see through it was stars and not either the planet that she had just left or the moon that she was heading toward. The trip was going to take a few hours, a few hours where she would be completely alone as the pilot would be too busy with not killing the two of them.

She returned to her chair and let herself drop into it. To her right was her luggage, a simple black bag with the emblem of SeeD on it. She unzipped it and checked on the contents. Her SeeD uniform was neatly folded up the way she left it and her whip was still in its case. A few of her smaller personal belongings had shifted a little, but nothing was damaged. She pulled out the book she had brought with her. A bookmark decorated with a particularly adorable kitten marked her place. She flipped open her book and prepared to pass away the hours until they arrived at the Lunar Base.

 

Rinoa was still as she stared into the microscope. She adjusted the magnification in an attempt to get a better look at the nucleus of the cells in the monster flesh sample. She just could not get it in focus no matter how much she fiddled with the knobs. The nucleus finally popped into view with just the smallest of turns, so small that it would have been hard for a viewer to tell she had even done anything. She sat as still as someone suffering from the petrify status ailment. The minutes ticked by on the wall clock. Finally, Rinoa sat up, straightening her back and stretching. She pushed back with one foot and let her chair roll backwards across the eggshell white floor, stretching her arms up over her head.

There was that pop from her intercom that always came right before a voice. “Dr. Heartilly, the shuttle with the SeeD member is docking,” said the cool and calm voice of Heather Jones, who worked in communications.

Rinoa pushed her chair sidewise and hit the button on her end. “Thanks, I’ll be right there to greet them.” 

“Understood.” The particular silence after a machine was turned off told Rinoa that they had been disconnected. 

She stood up from her chair and walked to the door, lit with florescent lights. She placed her hand on the pressure sensor and with a whirl the door split down the middle, each half pulling into the wall. Rinoa stepped through, her hands in the pocket of her lab coat. There were a few strands of grey in her hair now. It wasn’t that she was particularly old, she was only twenty-eight, but people in her family tended to start going grey early. Her thoughts were on her research as she walked to the airlock. When she passed a fellow member of staff, each with a patch identifying the country they were from, she would nod at them. She stopped at the glowing orange sign that indicated the airlock. Leaning back against the cool, grey wall, she waited. 

SeeD provided the security for the Lunar Base. The previous head of security had been killed in a monster attack. Even though Rinoa was part of the science staff, she had rushed to help out. Her sorceress magic and time spent as both a resistance member and fighting alongside her friends against Ultimecia served her well and she quickly took down the best before it could do any more harm. The last she had heard was that Squall was still in command of SeeD, she hoped this time he would send someone more competent to take over security.

The doors opened, letting in the stale air of the shuttle. Rinoa got off the wall and took a step forward. Standing there was Quistis in her SeeD uniform. 

She really hadn’t changed much. Quistis was visibly older and had an air of experience about her. The arm of her uniform indicated her A rank. The glasses that Rinoa had only seen her use in the past for reading, were already perched upon her nose.

“Quistis, it is so good to see you,” Rinoa said with a genuine smile. She didn’t wait to ask permission before hugging her friend.

“Rinoa, what are you doing here?”

“I’m one of the researchers. I study the monsters on the moon. Come on, I’ll show you around.” Rinoa linked her arm around Quistis’s and began to lead her around the base.

 

Quistis said goodbye to Rinoa before stepping into her own quarters. They were smaller than what she was used to. The bed folded into the wall. The furniture was less furniture and more padded benches that could be folded out. There was a small sink that when the button was pressed would dispense a small trickle of water. She at least had her own bathroom, which was basically a closet with a toilet, a faucet in the ceiling and a drain in the floor. On the wall was a bathing schedule that included how much of a water ration she was allocated. It even contained a helpful conversion table that said how much water was used per minute. A set of beige curtains in the main room covered a window with thick glass. Outside she could see the moon’s terrain and a random small monster scurrying by.

She set pulled the table down from the wall and set her bag on top of it. She pressed the button to open her closet, set into the wall. The only thing she had was the clothing she had worn for her initial trip into space. So she hung that up, put the framed photo of herself and her friends on a shelf and put her whip on her belt. There were a few more things that she put away, but she really hadn’t brought much. It had been advised that she travel light and things like extra clothing could always be bought at the Lunar Base or sent up later.

Once everything was put away she exited her quarters and turned left. Rinoa had showed her so much that everything had begun to run together in her mind. Quistis just hoped she was remembering the correct route to the canteen. She had not eaten since before her flight and by this point she was starving. Thankfully, she found it after only three wrong turns and stopping to ask for directions once.

Entering the canteen was almost like being in a whole new world. Unlike the dull metals and fluorescent bright lights of the rest of the base, this was brightly colored and potted plants sat in every corner, on shelves and even hanging from the ceiling. The tables and chairs were clearly plastic, but they were bright reds, blues and greens. The windows here were larger than in the rest of the base and framed by checkered curtains. The lights were cooler in here. 

There were a few staff members eating. Rinoa was already sitting at a table next to the window, just like she said she would be. Quistis picked up a yellow, plastic tray and went through the food line. There was a large variety of fruits and vegetables, but less meat and almost no bread. She took a glass of water. At the end of the line was a man at a computer. Quistis handed over the staff ID that she had been provided with before leaving Earth. He scanned it, handed it back to her and then gave a curt nod.

With her food in hand, she walked around the erratically placed tables and chairs and to the one that Rinoa was already sitting at. She set her tray down, the table wobbled just a little bit. Quistis pulled out her chair and sat down, smoothing out her uniform’s skirt.

“I’m surprised they have such large windows in here.”

“They are sealed. Besides, the moon has oxygen on it anyways.”

“It does?” Quistis knew that space itself was a vacuum but she didn’t know anything about the moon.

Rinoa nodded and said, “Yep, that was one of the first things we determined. I mean it makes sense with all these monsters. They need to breathe just like us.”

“If there is air then why is everything sealed like there isn’t?” Quistis ate a fork full of green beans.

“Well, we didn’t know for sure if there would or wouldn’t be until we got here and started work. So the original base was designed as if there wasn’t. While we know there is air we don’t know how safe the plants and monsters are. This way we don’t have to worry about poisons, pollens and who knows what else getting inside. The engineers are working on improving the filtration system so that we can take in outside air safely.”

“Have you ever been outside?”

“A few times. It drives security crazy when I go out by myself to collect samples.”

Quistis smiled, “You haven’t changed much.”

“I learnt a lot from all of you and I have my magic. I make sure not to go too far away from the base.”

“How did you get involved in all of this?”

“Dr. Ondine suggested it. He recommended that a sorceress would be perfect for studying the moon. It took a few years at a university before I knew enough, but thanks to him and my reputation I was able to get up here sooner and finished school here.”

Quistis remembered how often she had found Rinoa in the library of Balamb Garden. The idea of her becoming a scientist didn’t surprise Quistis at all. She knew for a fact that Rinoa had read every book in there at least twice.

She ate a few more bites. The vegetables were good but the meat was horribly bland. She had been on enough missions to know better than to waste food and so she ate everything. During the meal she talked with Rinoa, catching up on what had happened in their respective lives since the last time they had seen each other.

 

Quistis hadn’t even been there for a full twenty-four hours before everything went to hell in a hand basket. She was in bed when the alarm went on, a piercing siren that destroyed sleep as thoroughly as a sorceress performing pest control. Quistis sat up, her blonde hair loose about her head. With one hand she grabbed her communicator and with the other she grabbed her spectacles and put them on.

Everything seemed fine according to this. Of course that meant one of two things. One, the alarms were failing. Two, it was her communicator that was failing. For the moment, she was going to assume that both were broken. After taking a moment to strap on her communicator, she grabbed a pair of boots and stuffed her feet into them. With her wip in hand she left her room to find out what was wrong while still wearing her quartermaster issued pajamas. 

Right outside of her door there was chaos, panicking people, and very angry monsters. She cracked her whip once. A flick of her wrist and she relieved the monster of the head that was burdening it. The head fell to the ground and rolls across the floor, landing at her toes. A kick sent it flying into the path of another monster, spreading blood across its face long enough to blind it. That one also soon had the burden of a head lifted from its shoulders. 

A strong wind blew away the stench of blood. It felt good. Quistis hadn’t felt fresh air on her cheeks since she left the planet. She could smell flowers.

Quistis tensed. Things were far worse than wrong.

She lifted her arm with the communicator. It was a little clumsy typing while holding a whip, but she managed to do it. The search functionality still worked and it marked the path to Rinoa on its display. Being the new head of security meant she had access to the location of everyone.

As she traveled she killed monsters that got in her way. Her pajamas were soon covered with monster substances that she would prefer not to think about. She helped the people that she could, but she was seeing fewer and fewer of the living and more and more of the dead. Rinoa’s location kept on changing on the display.

Quistis felt her hair stand on end before she saw Rinoa. She had to cover her ears against the thunder when lightning struck a particularly nasty looking snake monster. 

“Rinoa, its’s me,” Quistis called out.

Rinoa ran around the corner. She was still wearing the same clothing that she had worn earlier that day. There was no weapon in Rinoa’s hands, but then again, she didn’t need one anymore.

“Quistis, it’s you! The monsters have killed everyone else in the labs. I tried to protect them.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t know. Everything was fine and then it was like this.”

“The hull was compromised. I could feel the wind from it.”

“If it’s been compromised then we’ve all been exposed to the lunar atmosphere.”

“Is that bad? You said you’ve been outside before.”

“Yes, in an environmental suit.”

“We need to find other survivors. I don’t have a GF. Do you have a weapon?”

“It’s locked up in the security office.”

“We get your weapon first.”

The two women traveled together, supporting each other with might, magic and their minds. They each had their strong points that complimented the other’s weaknesses. A pile of monster corpses was left behind them. 

They found no other survivors, but neither was all the bodies accounted for. In the northern block of the base they found were the monsters had broken through. The edges of the metal were twisted like tissue paper. 

“It would have taken something as powerful as Ultima Weapon to break through these walls,” Rinoa said as she knelt next to the tear. She wasn’t scared. She had faced both Ultima Weapon and Omega Weapon without backing down.

“We should split up. I’ll check the security records and you check to see if anyone was researching anything that could have set the monsters off.”

“Got it.”

They split up and headed in their respective directions. By this point they were both comfortable enough with the strength of most of the monsters inside the base and if either needed help she could always use her communicator to call the other. After three hours they met up again in a storage room, one of the more secure areas left.

“There was a scientist that was playing different tones to measure monster aggression. They were trying to make them calmer around the base, but it looks like they played the wrong sound. It didn’t do anything too dangerous right away, but more and more monsters kept coming during the night.”

“So we don’t have to worry as long as neither of us starts playing music.”

Rinoa nodded, “Exactly. The concentration of powerful monsters would have increased instead of decreased if more were coming.”

“I’m more worried about the reactors. They are still active. You’ll need to turn them off.”

“I’m not that type of scientist. I don’t know anything about reactors. Zell would have been the one to ask about it.”

“We need to get out of here then. What about the shuttle?”

“It would have returned a long time ago.”

“Do you have any kind of vehicles at all.”

Rinoa grabbed one arm with the other’s hand as she thought about it. “Yes, we have a special vehicle for moving around outside. It is supposed to be used by everyone from scientists to soldiers.”

“So it would have a pretty strong motor?”

Rinoa nodded.

“Alright,” Quistis said, “we load up what we can and get out of here. We take any radios or communication devices with us so that we can call for help. If the reactor explodes I want us to be far away from it.”

With their goals decided they set to work, rushing to fill the lunar vehicle with supplies and equipment and anything else they could pack on that they might need. Their respective experiences as a SeeD and a resistance member helped them quickly choose what to take and what to leave behind. 

When the base finally blew up the two of them were far away. They took shelter together in a cave, falling asleep against each other.

 

In a cave of the moon there lived two women. They worked together and depended on each other. One continued her research and recorded it anywhere she could, whether it was electronically, on paper, the walls or on the makeshift paper they made from local plants. The other continued to try to contact home, but there was never any response. No shuttle ever came to look for survivors.

Rinoa sat there, brushing out Quistis’s hair and braiding a flower into it. 

“I think you’re going to have to cut it again soon,” Quistis said.

“I don’t know, I like your hair long.”

“If it is too long it just becomes a problem.” Hair care supplies were not very high on the list of things they had grabbed.

“There, all done.”

Quistis wished that she had a mirror to see how she looked in. Instead she explored her head with her fingertips, trying to paint a mental picture on how it looked. “It feels fine.”

Their cave was full of a mix of what they have taken, what they had salvaged and what they had made. The lunar vehicle was parked outside. While Quistis did her best to maintain it, it was rarely used to keep wear and tear down. A supply of foods was in the back. There was a very small amount of food left from the base. There were more plants and meats that they had determined was safe to eat. Another cave that they had a decent view of was used for smoking meat and drying plants. Water was not an issue with a stream nearby.

There was a single bed that had all of their heaviest blankets and furs on it. It dropped below freezing every night and then heated up to sweltering temperatures at dawn. They had to dress in layers and had to be back before nightfall or face the possibility of freezing to death.

Quistis turned around to look at the only other human face she saw anymore. Rinoa smiled the same smile she had back when she was seventeen. It was almost like old times, but it wasn’t really, they didn’t have the others with them.

She reached her hand out that impossible distance but stopped short of touching. Rinoa grasped Quistis’s hand in her own and pulled it that last little distance, bringing it to her cheek. It was warm and alive.

“Even if they never come, we’ll be alright,” Rinoa said.

It wasn’t physically surviving that Quistis was worried about. She knew they could do that. What scared her was when she looked up at the sky and saw her home floating there in a velvet sea of diamonds and feeling nothing.

“The sun will be setting soon, we should go to bed,” Quistis said. She didn’t let go of Rinoa’s hand as they got up and moved to the bedding to spend another freezing night in each other’s arms.


End file.
